With the economy in the state it is, it’s hard to believe any company out there is actually thriving. Magazine publishers are one of the industries that are feeling the effects and making any changes necessary to earn a profit. A tactic that seems to be popular for publishers and companies, alike, is cross-promotion. Recently, Conde Nast announced their launching of travel packages through their publication, Conde Nast Traveler, in an attempt to increase revenue.
Among others are Time, Inc.’s shopping search engine, Stylefeeder, and Hachette Filipacchi’s Woman’s Day, CookVook. These developments of cross-industry promotion are not new, but with the onslaught of increased web use, technological innovation, and social media tools the magazine industry has jumped at the chance to break down industry barriers. Do you think this is a good idea for publishing companies? Or is cross-promotion threatening the magazine industry?
Jet Magazine, Feb. and Mar. Issue, Gabrielle Union
Some magazines have opted to redo their entire look and focus instead of turning to outside industries for increased profit. For example, Jet Magazine has turned toward revamping to appeal to a younger audience. Although it is hard to say whether this strategy is effective, at least it maintains the prime focus of the magazine industry: magazines.
I can’t help but wonder about those who take a career in magazine production because they are passionate about it, whether they be journalists, designers, photographers, etc.. With such drastic changes coming about, what do you think the implications will be for those professions specific to magazine production?
With everything going online in today’s world, I don’t think cross-promotion is a bad idea. Any sort of publicity for magazines is a good thing, even if it is to be found online. Much like newspapers, I feel like magazines are also on the decline when there are so many other options out there, like tons & tons of blogs and online columnists. If you don’t think people are beginning to forget about actual paper magazines, just take a look at SI.com…
I like how magazines such as Jet starting to be geared toward a younger audience, because people our age are the ones who are starting to forget about magazines & all other print publications.
I don’t think it sounds like a very productive idea to cross genres because when I purchase a particular magazine I am spending money BECAUSE I am expecting to read about a particular topic. You wouldn’t buy a Cosmopolitan magazine an expect to find articles on sports would you? No, probably not. I feel like this applies to all publications; stick to what you’re known for and simply revamp your already established publication rather than trying to take the easy road and just add more “stuff” to sell copies.
I don’t think it sounds like a very good idea to cross genres in magazines. When I purchase a particular magazine I am spending money BECAUSE I am expecting to read about a particular topic. You wouldn’t buy a Cosmopolitan magazine an expect to find articles on sports would you? No, probably not. I feel like this applies to all publications; stick to what you’re known for and simply revamp your already established publication rather than trying to take the easy road and just add more “stuff” to sell copies.
I think if cross-promotion ultimately drives more revenue and people back to the magazine, it can’t hurt. However, I think Jet has the right idea by turning their focus on their design and overall goal for the magazine and keeping it alive. Before changing anything within your industry you do have to think about what would be best for the audience you are trying to reach and what is going to keep loyal customers coming back. You also want to promote in ways that are going to keep people thinking about your magazine, otherwise it defeats the purpose. With all the options we have today, it’s definitely harder to keep strong following of readers so it may just be better to revamp your magazines and get involved with your audience as opposed to trying to reach them through different ways, you need to cut through all the clutter.
I think that cross promotion is good to a certain extent. Like Aaren said, if the cross promotion with turn everything back to the magazine then it is a good idea. However, if people get too used to their cross promotional products and are more enticed by them than what the magazine has to offer, the company will end up hurting itself. I also think that the magazine needs to consider their audience, both who they are and how many they are reaching before doing any cross promotional material. As far as magazine professionals, I think that jobs will begin to get even more competitive, but if the company is able to transition right then many of the jobs could shift. Some jobs that are very specific to the magazine industry will be in danger and those individuals will have trouble making the jump.
[...] As with most print magazines whose sales are declining, Teen Vogue has turned toward ideas such as cross-promotion and social media [...]